November 6th 2008
The FBI wiretap of JB Pritzker & Rod Blagojevich.
UNEDITED
Blagojevich: Ok, so, but, what if, and I’m telling ya this could happen, because I know how Madigan is, he says ‘I’ll give ya health care, I’ll give ya a capital bill, OK. We’ll work with you to balance the budget the way you want to do it and I’ll raise taxes on people…and you make Lisa the senator, OK?’
Pritzker: Hmm, hmm.
Blagojevich: That puts me in a moral dilemma…because of all of the prospective candidates, what, dealing with her, suing us to f****** support Bush kicking 35,000 poor people off of health care…
Pritzker: Yeah, I know.
Blagojevich: You know, all that bulls***.
Pritzker: You know what? You should do it. You should do it. I’d take that in a heartbeat.
Blagojevich: Morally repugnant. I probably have to do it.
Pritzker: Yeah, I’d do it. I’d do it.
Blagojevich: OK, and then there’s an AG I can appoint, J.B.
Pritzker: You’re doing the right thing for the people.
Blagojevich: Are you a lawyer?
Pritzker: Yeah.
Blagojevich: There’s an AG that I appoint.
Pritzker: Oooh, that’s interesting…
Blagojevich: You see what I’m saying?
Pritzker: Oh, there ya go.
Blagojevich: I mean, don’t rule that one out.
Pritzker: OK.
Blagojevich: I mean, I’m not promising. I’m just saying these are all scenarios.
JB Pritzker
A corrupt deal for Illinois
Listen to the full FBI tape at pritzkerblago.com
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
Today, the JB Pritzker for Governor campaign released two new ads in response to Bruce Rauner’s desperate attempt to distract from his failed record as governor.
With Rauner facing statewide backlash for his fatal mismanagement of the Legionnaires crisis at the Quincy Veterans’ Homes that took the lives of 13 Veterans and spouses, Rauner has decided to play politics in the Democratic primary instead of defending his record. JB is ready to take Illinois down a different path with real plans to clean up Rauner’s damage and get Illinois back on track.
“When a governor doesn’t take charge, people die, and 13 veterans and spouses have now lost their lives because Bruce Rauner failed to lead,” said JB Pritzker. “It is no surprise this governor would rather attack me than run on his failed record. I’m running on real plans to get Illinois back on track by creating jobs, investing in quality education, and expanding healthcare across our state. It’s time to stop the political games, focus on beating Bruce Rauner, and get our heroes and families across the state the leadership we need.”
Illinois public health officials delayed informing the public for nearly a week about a deadly 2015 Legionnaires’ disease outbreak at a state veterans’ home in Quincy despite knowing the facility was facing “the beginning of an epidemic,” according to internal emails from Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office obtained by WBEZ. […]
One of the nation’s top infectious disease experts said it’s “mind boggling” that the state would wait six days to notify the public about the initial outbreak at the Illinois Veterans Home.
“I think it’s really inexcusable,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Center for Health Security in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. “It takes you six days from seeing an epidemic to tell people that you’re seeing an epidemic? That’s six days that you’ve allowed that disease to spread in a manner that probably wouldn’t have happened if you would have known earlier because people would have been taking action. People would have been asking questions.
“If you know there is an epidemic, you need to tell people immediately,” Adalja said.
The state’s decision not to notify the public immediately did not display even minimal standards of caution, he said.
Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs Director Erica Jeffries testified that officials waited to notify the public because they needed time “to ensure that before information was released that we knew what we were talking about.” In the meantime, she said, staff was instructed to check residents’ vital signs more frequently and residents were told informally that there was the risk of an infectious disease on the campus. Jeffries said the goal was to not “incite hysteria or panic.”
Lawmakers questioned that reasoning, saying relatives of the residents didn’t get information that might have led them to remove their loved ones from the home.
“I reject the idea that you had to choose between improving the care and taking initial remedial measures and issuing a press release,” said Rep. Michael Halpin, D-Rock Island. “I don’t know that the press release was necessary, but informing the residents and the powers of attorney and their family members that there was a specific issue is important.”
* Gov. Rauner today during his Quincy press conference…
Our team did exactly what they should have done, exactly when they should have done it.
* Related…
* Rauner emerges from Quincy veterans home with plan for zero legionnaires cases: One step Rauner said he’ll take is putting together a new task force in the coming days. The task force will be made up of veterans advocates, lawmakers, healthcare professionals and members of his administration. Rauner also recommended a new facility on the Quincy campus and laid out a way to pay for it. “I also want to work with philanthropists and businesses that would be willing to donate both financial resources as well as technical capability,” Rauner said.
* Rauner vows not to close Quincy veterans home after Legionnaires’ outbreak: “I came here because I wanted to make a judgement for myself. I didn’t want to just rely on other people. I didn’t want to hear testimony or various opinions,” he said. “I wanted to come for myself to see first hand the nature, the fundamental service at this facility. And let me be crystal clear, I do NOT support closing this facility.”
In the often loud and frequently inane blah-blah-blah that is radio, Milt Rosenberg was for nearly half a century an oasis of intelligent conversation and learned curiosity.
Ever mindful of the intelligence of his listeners, Rosenberg was a late-night radio fixture who interviewed an astonishing array of guests from all walks of life — among the eclectic hundreds were Henry Kissinger, Carl Sagan, Jimmy Carter, Norman Mailer, Bob Feller, Bill Murray, Jane Byrne and Barack Obama — and actively engaged with listeners on his late night “Extension 720” program on WGN-AM 720.
The late John Callaway of WTTW-Ch. 11, no slouch himself at the interviewing game, once said, “When Milt Rosenberg formulates a question with a premise in which he refers in two different languages to four different books, I say to myself, ‘That’s smart. That’s big-time smart.’ ”
Milton J. Rosenberg died of pneumonia and its complications Tuesday. He had entered the hospital in Chicago on New Year’s Day. He was 92. His death was announced by his friend Joe Morris.
“He was a polymath, a perceptive analyst, and a keen questioner,” Morris told friends in an email Wednesday. “These traits, combined with a prodigious memory born of wide reading and experience, made him an outstanding interlocutor of political leaders, business executives, academics, journalists, artists, and others in the long parade of guests whom he welcomed to his studios and to the extraordinary conversations that he then held for the benefit of millions of Americans listening to his program each night in their homes and cars across the nation as streamed by clear-channel radio at 50,000 watts. For four decades his show was the mandatory first stop on the book tour of every author of a serious work of fiction or non-fiction.
“His career was also described by the arc of a moral conversion, carried out in public via his nightly broadcasts, from the ‘soft mindless leftism of an East Coast academic’ to an embrace of free market economics, traditional social values, and an appreciation of the United States as the world’s best hope for the defense of freedom and human decency in global affairs,” Morris wrote.
Born in New York and educated at Brooklyn College and the University of Wisconsin, Rosenberg earned a Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Michigan. He taught at Yale University, the Ohio State University, Dartmouth College, and the Naval War College before joining the University of Chicago, where he served as director of the doctoral program in social and organizational psychology. He later became professor emeritus.
The late, great Paul Green got me on Milt’s show once and it was an experience I will never forget. What a giant.
"I'm not goin' away! All right!" - Former Gov Pat Quinn when asked if it isn't time for him to let the next generation to run for attorney general. @wlsam890pic.twitter.com/IOKhRzhY53
* Dusty Rhodes has a good explanation of Gov. Rauner’s amendatory veto of a school funding reform trailer bill this week…
The trailer had received bipartisan support: unanimous in the House; 42-11 in the Senate. But Rauner’s veto letter says it doesn’t go far enough in providing school choice, and he wants to lower the standards to include private schools that haven’t yet received “recognition” from the Illinois State Board of Education.
Such “recognition” entails a thorough examination of a school, starting with a 17-page form that requires documentation of curriculum, anti-discrimination policies, teacher qualifications, staff background checks and other safety protocols — all confirmed by teams of ISBE investigators through multiple site visits.
Rauner wants to include private schools that are merely “registered” with ISBE, which is a more casual process. Registration means a school official completes a five-page form providing “assurances” regarding curriculum, safety, and other standards, but does not include a site visit. Schools lobbying for this change include Urban Prairie Waldorf School, Village Leadership Academy, and the nationally renowned Hales Franciscan High School — all located in Chicago. […]
State Sen. Andy Manar, the Bunker Hill Democrat who sponsored both the original school funding reform and the trailer bill, says that, if this concept had come up earlier in the process, this wrinkle might have been ironed out.
“I get it,” he said. “I mean, I understand the discrepancy here, but this is what happens when there isn’t a single public hearing about an idea like tax credits for private schools.”
* But there is support for Gov. Rauner’s AV among Democrats…
A West Side Democrat is urging fellow legislators to make the changes Gov. Bruce Rauner is seeking in a tax scholarship program for private schools, arguing that under the bill passed by the General Assembly “a lot of African-American schools are being cut out.” […]
Eventually a spokeswoman provided names of schools from the Illinois State Board of Education showing about 250 schools that weren’t recognized by the board in time to accept scholarships in the fall.
Eighteen of them were Roman Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago that didn’t get recognized in time because of a clerical error, and it’s uncertain when they will be eligible, said archdiocesan spokeswoman Anne Maselli.
“We are unsure at this point if those 18 schools will be able to participate in the tax credit scholarship program,” she said.
The archdiocese’s remaining 196 schools are already eligible for the program.
Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, said he has been fighting since last year to allow more time to let schools be recognized… “Hales Franciscan is a school that clearly should be on the list because they educate African-American males, and it’s a historic school. And that school is not part of the process. They can’t receive the donations,” Ford said “This law was supposed to be taking care of the families that need the scholarships most, and we find that a lot of African-American schools are being cut out. All of those schools were at the table so they were blindsided by the fact that they were not recognized and that they had to be in order to receive the benefits.”
Illinois Democrat gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker revealed yesterday once more how out-of-touch and unprepared he is for the political spotlight, arguing that an effort by Governor Bruce Rauner to give students in need more school options constitutes “political games.”
The State Journal-Register explains that Governor Rauner issued an amendatory veto on legislation this week in an attempt to fix issues in school funding legislation that “prevents three dozen private schools from participating in a new scholarship program.” Rauner’s plan is expected to provide $100 million in scholarships this year.
“Making this adjustment to this bill will maximize the number of schools eligible to participate, and therefore the number of students who may benefit,” Rauner said. “Inclusivity was the spirit of this legislation to begin with, and we simply must ensure that we follow through with the appropriate language to get the job done.”
But for billionaire Hyatt heir J.B. Pritzker, helping students trapped in failing schools is somehow objectionable. Pritzker is calling Rauner’s efforts to help students an example of “political games.”
Here’s the truth - J.B. Pritzker is the one playing political games by refusing to support better outcomes for students. It’s more evidence that Pritzker is not ready for primetime.
* But…
Gov’s veto says private schools CAN get funding WITHOUT:
1. a single ISBE sight visit to verify a functioning school actually exists
2. verifying that students who receive funding actually attend class
Burr Ridge Village Board members are threatening to sue state Rep. Jim Durkin of Western Springs for allegedly slandering the village with his political advertisements.
Durkin, the Illinois House Republican leader, is running for re-election in the 82nd House District and Burr Ridge Mayor Mickey Straub, also a Republican, has filed to run against him in the primary. The district includes all or portions of Burr Ridge, La Grange and Western Springs.
Board member Albert Paveza said a group called Citizens for Durkin has been mailing out numerous fliers alleging the village has run unbalanced budges while driving up property taxes. The advertisements also allege the village raised fees to pay for a Chicago bailout.
Paveza said he consulted with the village’s attorney, and the attorney agreed Durkin’s political ads may have crossed a line.
* Thing are really heating up on the ad front in that race. Straub is backed by Dan Proft and Proft is mostly funded by Richard Uihlein, who was a big player in the Roy Moore Senate race last month. Keep that in mind when watching this new Durkin spot…
* And the pro-Straub folks have a new spot whacking Durkin over alleged mob ties…
One of the problems with this particular line of attack is that Henry Vicenik, the man testifying that Durkin tried to set up a meeting about opening a strip club, is now in prison.
An Illinois State Board of Elections hearing examiner has recommended state Rep. Scott Drury be knocked from the Democratic ballot for Illinois attorney general because he filed an incorrect statement of economic interest — a charge the north suburban lawmaker plans to fight.
The recommendation is the first step in the petition challenge. While calls and emails to the board were not returned on Tuesday, Drury’s campaign early Wednesday produced another recommendation by the board’s general counsel, which “does not concur” with the initial recommendation. That recommendation says the statement Drury filed is sufficient since it “relates to the State of Illinois,” not just the district he represents.
A hearing is scheduled for Thursday in Chicago, where the board will hear both recommendations.
According to the initial hearing examiner’s recommendation, Drury filed a statement of economic interest, required to run for office, but submitted a statement from April 2017 that he submitted to the Secretary of State for his role as state representative.
Drury’s attorneys claim his statement is accurate because it was filed within a year, which is required. And they argue that even if he had filed one for the attorney general post, it would have been identical to the one submitted.
The good news for Drury: The board’s general counsel says he should stay on the ballot, according to board documents. “The statement of economic interest that the candidate has on file as a state representative relates to the state of Illinois, not only the representative district that he represents,” it reads.
Either way, those are both just recommendations. Drury’s fate is up to a vote of the elections board, which meets Thursday. If the board votes to kick him off the ballot, the former federal prosecutor could head to court to get back on. You can read about the case on p. 394 of this document.
My son Dajae was just 14 years old. He was coming home from a party, walking with a group of friends. They were where they were supposed to be doing what they were supposed to do. Dajae and his friends stumbled upon a person who started shooting at a group of kids. He had no idea who they were.
We’re in a club that shouldn’t exist, mothers who have lost their child due to gun violence. We should not be losing our kids in this way.
I’m supporting JB Pritzker for governor. JB’s criminal justice plan calls gun violence exactly what it is: an epidemic. I think he’s addressing a lot of the factors that contribute to criminality and gun violence. He has a plan. JB can make a difference because he cares, he understands, and he cares.
Kennedy is playing a dangerous game. He is playing the race card unfairly, knowing that’s the quickest way to get a headline in Chicago. But playing the race card — in this case without the goods — also is the quickest way to destroy a reputation, divide us against each other, and set back whatever progress in racial fairness our city has made. […]
As Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell wrote last week, there is no doubt that Chicago has seen an exodus of working-class and poor black people. The city’s African-American population has dropped by more than 250,000 people since 2000, which is to say since 11 years before Emanuel first was elected mayor.
But, as Mitchell also wrote, to blame Emanuel for the exodus is to feed “age-old conspiracy theories” instead of “coming up with fresh ideas that would benefit the black community.”
WBEZ’s South Side reporter Natalie Moore said Kennedy wasn’t wrong in describing disinvestment in African-American neighborhoods, but said the candidate misused the term.
“We see many challenges in black South and West Side neighborhoods,” Moore said. “I don’t dispute his evidence is there about the challenges that those neighborhoods are facing but we are not seeing a replacement of people in those neighborhoods. We’re seeing population decline.”
Merriam-Webster defines “gentrification” as the “process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents.”
As the root of the word suggests, gentrification is linked to socioeconomic class rather than race, although those factors can coincide.
Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios is facing $41,000 in fines for failing to return campaign contributions from property tax appeals lawyers whose donations exceeded legal limits, according to a pair of new rulings by the county ethics board.
The rulings raise the level of scrutiny on campaign contributions given by appeals lawyers to Berrios, who doubles as chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party and depends heavily on their donations in raising political funds. The action also ignites another high-profile showdown with the county Board of Ethics, with which he previously clashed over nepotism issues. […]
In rulings released late Monday, the ethics board listed 30 examples of property tax attorneys or firms whose donations to Berrios’ main political fund in late 2016 or early 2017 exceeded the $750 limit. It fined Berrios and the Committee to Elect Joseph Berrios Cook County Assessor $1,000 for each violation, for a total of $30,000. The $1,000 fine per violation is the maximum allowed.
An additional $11,000 in fines were imposed on Berrios and his 31st Ward Democratic Organization, the source of his main power base.
…Adding… Berrios campaign…
Every contribution received by the Assessor’s campaign complies with State Law. Attempts by the county ordinance to limit the rights of contributors are invalid. Assessor Berrios is not personally wealthy so he must rely on campaign contributions from supporters. Wall Street Republican Fritz Kaegi broke the contribution caps in late September in an attempt to buy the Assessor’s office.
According to Illinois State Law, the maximum an individual can contribute to a candidate is $5,600. No contribution to Assessor Berrios’ campaign exceeded that amount. In addition, Fritz Kaegi broke the contribution caps so all campaigns for the Assessor’s office are considered exempt from any campaign caps.
We intend to supply further evidence that there was no violation of the election law by accepting any contributions. We believe we will prevail in the upcoming motion for reconsideration. The Assessor believes the fines are improper and expects the order will be ultimately vacated by the ethics board or the court.
Assessor Berrios believes in a fair playing field for all candidates, who are seeking office, not just the wealthy 1%.
Biss admitted he and others passed a flawed law in 2013 intended to reduce pension debt. The law was struck down in 2015 by the Illinois Supreme Court, which said raising the retirement age for younger employees, capping the salary eligible for a pension and limiting cost-of-living increases violated the state Constitution.
“The state’s got awful budget problems, and state pension debt is an awful part of it,” said Biss, a co-sponsor of the 2013 legislation. “I do think there was kind of an obsessive hysteria about it a few years ago that led a lot of people in the legislature, myself included, to act irresponsibly. That bill was unconstitutional.”
Biss says consolidating pension systems is one way to cut costs. Illinois “has 628 different pension systems,” Biss said. “For almost every community in the Daily Herald area there are two pension systems, one for police officers and one for firefighters … that are served by the same investment and legal consultants. We’ve built a system whose investment returns cannot be what they should be and that allow politically connected consultants to reach their hands into 628 different pockets and come out with taxpayer dollars.”
He also advocates allowing buyouts for pension plan participants.
State Sen. Daniel Biss of Evanston stopped in for an Editorial Board interview the other day to make his case for governor, and we will have more to say about that at a later time.
For now, though, we can’t resist sharing our fascination with his perspective on House Speaker Michael Madigan, the most powerful Democrat in Illinois.
His criticism of Madigan is at once sharp but also arms length. Such a curious combination. […]
Biss says that Rauner has shown that nuclear confrontation with Madigan is ineffective. If elected governor, he says, he will have to find a way to work with the Speaker.
With that in mind, Biss is careful about his rhetoric. His opposition to Madigan, he says, is not personal; it’s with the system.
In response to a question, he bluntly criticized Michael Madigan, the powerful longtime speaker of the Illinois House of Representative, who also serves as the chairman of the state Democratic Party.
“Mike Madigan’s been there too long,” said Biss. “Mike Madigan is too powerful and that power has not been good for the state of Illinois.”
Madigan has been speaker of the House for all but two years since 1983.
“I think the problem with Speaker Madigan is that longevity,” Biss said. “He doesn’t really care about public policy; he’s interested in holding onto political power.” […]
“We are drifting toward plutocracy and that’s a problem,” Biss said. “It’s not what the state needs and it’s not what people want. People can weigh in on that in March.”
The Illinois Education Association (IEA) Board of Directors voted overwhelmingly to recommend Democrat J.B. Pritzker for governor. The vote came after a Pritzker recommendation from the IEA IPACE executive committee.
“All the candidates we met with were impressive and thoughtful. Our membership did not come to this decision lightly,” IEA President Kathi Griffin said. “It was Pritzker’s strong commitment to funding K-12 education, his promise to invest in higher education, his pledge to protect collective bargaining rights and his willingness to enact a progressive income tax that matched our goals for public education in Illinois.”
IEA members also sited Pritzker’s electability as a reason for the recommendation, pointing out the Pritzker campaign structure, his high name recognition and a comprehensive state-wide campaign strategy.
“I am so proud to receive the endorsement of the Illinois Education Association and the over 135,000 educators and education support professionals they represent,” said Pritzker. “Every child in Illinois deserves a quality education, no matter their zip code and as governor I will partner with the IEA to make that a reality in our state. Our educators will have a seat at the table as we fight to fully fund public schools and ensure equitable school funding in Illinois. With the IEA on our team, I’m confident we can continue to grow our statewide, grassroots movement, defeat Bruce Rauner, and get public education in Illinois back on track so every child has the tools they need to reach their full potential.”
The IPACE Executive Committee went through an exhaustive process of seeking a gubernatorial recommendation that began in November 2017. All candidates, both Democrat and Republican, were given the opportunity to complete questionnaires. State Sen. Daniel Biss, D-Evanston; Regional Office of Education Superintendent Bob Daiber, businessman Chris Kennedy and Pritzker all completed the questionnaires and were interviewed by the full IPACE executive committee along with nearly 40 observers, representing IEA members from all parts of the state. Additionally, the candidates were given the opportunity to share their campaign strategies and polling with IEA leadership. Republicans, Gov. Bruce Rauner and state Rep. Jeanne Ives, R-Wheaton, did not return the gubernatorial questionnaire and as a result were not interviewed.
Additionally, IPACE conducted a poll of IEA members in early January to gauge the mood of IEA members in regard to the upcoming election. The poll involved 600 members and sought input about all of the candidates, both Democrat and Republican.
A communications staffer ousted by Gov. Bruce Rauner is accusing the governor’s office of stonewalling on requests for public information, including emails to and from first lady Diana Rauner regarding an abortion bill the governor angered conservatives by signing.
Diana Rickert — a former staffer of the conservative Illinois Policy Institute — filed the lawsuit on Jan. 5 in Cook County Circuit Court. […]
Rickert claims she filed a series of Freedom of Information Act requests to the governor’s office in September and October 2017, including requests for emails sent to former chief of staff Kristina Rasmussen from state employees in the Department of Innovation and Technology, and others sent to Rasmussen “regarding internet browsing history for state employees.” […]
Rickert also asked for emails to and from Diana Rauner from June 1, 2017 that include the following terms: “abortion, HB40, reproductive rights, Personal PAC, Planned Parenthood, Terry Cosgrove.” The request included a personal email address, a state email address and one from her role with the Ounce of Prevention
Additionally, Rickert asked for emails to and from Rauner’s policy chief Michael Lucci since Aug. 25 that also included the same abortion-related search items.
Some of her requests are pretty specific, like all e-mails sent to Kristina Rasmussen on Sept. 20, 21 and 22 last year. She apparently knows what she’s looking for.
Rickert now works at the Liberty Justice Center and is being represented by attorneys from the organization, which is affiliated with the Illinois Policy Institute.
Jacob Huebert, the center’s director of litigation, said the lawsuit is part of the group’s “mission to protect citizens’ rights” and is aimed at requiring Rauner’s office to “comply with the law.”
A Rauner spokeswoman said the suit is “under review.”
Rickert also is seeking emails from former chief of staff Kristina Rasmussen to the state’s information technology agency as well as information about the web browsing history of state employees. The two previously worked together at the institute.
* Pritzker campaign…
“A former member of the ‘Best Team in America’ is now suing Bruce Rauner for trying hide information from the public,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “This transparency averse governor can’t even figure out how to lead his own staff, let alone our state.”
